THE 6th DAY

Director:  Roger Spottiswoode

Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Tony Goldwyn, Michael Rapaport

A pilot survives a crash, but returns home to find that a clone has taken his place.

Set in the not too distant future (“sooner than you think”), The 6^th Day is one of the first films to tackle the subject of human cloning, and the first to explore the topic with any real vision. Naturally, its thought-provoking Philip K. Dick-like themes are generally sidelined in favour of some truly mindless (and poorly directed) action scenes, peppered with a few unfunny quips from Schwarzenegger. It also treads some ground familiar to anyone who’s seen Invasion of the Body Snatchers, albeit with a new 21st century twist. Dramatic shortcomings aside, the film is terrific eye candy, with numerous impressive special effects, perfectly replicated on this almost flawless 2.35:1 anamorphic transfer. The 5.1 Dolby Digital mix (at 448kbps) is suitably flashy, and adds greatly to the entertainment.

Columbia has packed the disc with bonus material. The special effects are analysed in a series short featurettes, totalling about fifty minutes, which are a fine addition to the disc, and offer a fascinating glimpse at the state of the art to anyone interested in the subject. The disc also sports an isolated score track (with comments from composer Trevor Rabin), a short promotional featurette (15m), three storyboard / film comparisons, an expanded version of an infomercial seen in the film, two animatic (“moving storyboard”) scenes, and trailers for The 6^th Day, Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Vertical Limit.